Mathura killings: A murky mix of religious mysticism and politics
6 Jun 2016 3:34 AM IST
In the late 1970s and early 80s, a religious figure Jai Gurudev emerged as a cult persona with a clarion call for “revolution”. As his followers surged to millions, politicians started rushing in to seek his blessings. This emboldened the religious leader tao launch the ‘Satsanghi’ brigade.
But there is a twist in the tale. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s Emergency fiasco came as an opportune moment for the Janata Party to make people cynical of the then contemporary leaders. So, they were longing for a redeemer. Jai Gurudev, meanwhile was emerging as a knight in shining armour calling himself ‘Netaji in the guise of spiritual swamy.’
Locals said , the aura around the spiritual saviour and his disciples emerged during then Janata Party regime. But who is the Godman?Local activists said, Baba Jai Gurudev is descendant of Jai Gurudev (first). He came to Mathura as a Satsanghi in the 50s from Etawah in Uttar Pradesh.
He was a follower of the Baba Jai Gurudev (first) who died thirty-five years back. Locals expressed doubts over his death and claimed that he was killed by his successor, Jai Gurudev (second) for power and the aura.
On the other hand, Tulsidas Yadav who was held in high regard by Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav gradually emerged as a spiritual figure.
Baba Jaidev Guru also realised his political potential and experimented with a new political outfit, Doordarshi Party. All political parties were nervous as Baba entered the electoral fray. Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader, LK Advani was mystified by his queer and eccentric logic and used to convince other leaders to meet Baba Jai Gurudev.
Baba Jai Gurudev has millions of disciples scattered across the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and other parts of the country.
Among them the godman’s closest aides were Umakant Tiwari, Pankaj Yadav (who was the driver) and Ram Vriksh Yadav. Locals say among the three, Ram Vriksh who is an alleged precursor of this mishap is supposed to be the descendant of Jai Gurudev (second). However, Vriksh and Umakant Tiwari who were being sidelined by Baba later enjoyed the support of SP leader Shivpal Yadav.
Meanwhile, Ram Vriksh Yadav swelled his army, who claim themselves as ‘Satyagrahis’ and attacked Baba Jai Gurudev’s ashram in 2012, as Pankaj Yadav was made the head of the trustee. Pankaj also enjoys the land worth 4,000 crores and Baba’s other businesses which include, a school and a petrol pump, owned by the Jai Gurudev Trust in Mahuli village of Mathura, a dozen of ashrams, assets and cash amounting to crores.
The residents of Mathura claimed that Pankaj Yadav never shared good relations with the Samajwadi Party leadership, where Ram Vriksh Yadav and his army had easy access to the power corridor. The ‘Satyagrahis’ who had been allowed to stay for two days at Jawahar Bagh of Mathura city in 2012, clutched the entire land and stayed back for four long years without local authority’s permission.
These squatters started doing business and several cases have been registered on them for anti-social activities. Moreover, the water supply and electricity were cut off from the area few months back. But locals say there was a pressure from SP leadership to resume the services.
The former president of Bar Council ,Vijaypal Singh Tomar filed a PIL in Allahabad High Court few months back and the local authority was been notified by the court to evacuate the land. According to the Circle Officer of Mathura city ,Chakrapani Tripathi, police force was terrified by these squatters and told how several times on earlier occasions these goons attacked them.
The CO city also told Millennium Post that the mishap is still a nightmare for him. “On Thursday, we went only to warn these squatters. So we were not fully prepared. But we could never imagine that these satyagrahis will kill our SP city and SHO,” Tripathy asserts.
However, the Satsangh sevaks of Baba Jai Gurudev Ashram claim that this was a collective effort to launch an agitation, so that these squatters could attack the ashram. Local activists also believe that the splinter group wanted to attack the ashram to terrify Satsanghis, so that they could remove Pankaj Yadav easily. A political conspiracy cannot be denied as the policos were eying the property of Baba Jai Gurudev (second) since long.
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